Locked-in syndrome victim Tony Nicklinson dies at home

Locked-in syndrome victim Tony Nicklinson, who recently lost his high court battle, for a doctor to legally end his life, has died at his home in Wiltshire.

Mr Nicklinson suffered a stroke on a business trip in 2005 which left him almost completely paralysed and only able to communicate through a specially adapted computer that monitored his eye movements. Nicklinson pleaded to the high court for a doctor to lawfully end his life which he described as "a living nightmare". His case, differed from other right-to-die cases, as he would have needed the assistance of a doctor to administer lethal drugs to him. The high court rejected his case to allow doctors to end his life without facing prosecutions, a decision Nicklinson was said to be "devastated" by.

His lawyers confirmed that the father-of-two had peacefully died at his home following an outbreak of pneumonia. He had made an advanced directive in 2004, refusing any life-sustaining treatment, and also refused food from last week. He leaves his wife Jane and two daughters Lauren and Beth.